David Longstreth is on the podcast Beginnings with Andy Beckerman to discuss his early life and influences, following the recent release of his Song of the Earth, performed by Longstreth with his band Dirty Projectors and the chamber ensemble s t a r g a z e. "It's fantastic!" Beckerman says of the album. You can hear their conversation here.

Lady on the Bike—the debut album from cinematic electro-pop duo Ringdown, featuring Danni Lee Parpan and Pulitzer and Grammy winner Caroline Shaw—is out now. The album celebrates the feeling of possibility in myriad forms: the possibility of love; the possibility of creating connection and community in a world trying to pull those things apart; the possibility of making music in new ways. The songs were collaboratively written and recorded by the duo. New Body Electric members Leah Vautar and Aaron K Peterson perform on and help produce several songs; Sō Percussion is featured on a new version of Ringdown’s previously released single “Ghost.” Take a look inside in a vinyl unboxing video here.

Sō Percussion continues its BAM Fisher residency in Brooklyn with Caroline Shaw and Ringdown. Ambrose Akinmusire joins Alonzo King LINES Ballet in San Francisco. Jeremy Denk is in Düsseldorf. Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson take The Old-Time Revue to Chicago and DC. Gabriel Kahane hosts an evening with Oregon Symphony members in Portland. Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, and Marcus Gilmore tour Tokyo. Mandy Patinkin is in Kalamazoo. Chris Thile joins Asheville Symphony Orchestra.

An album comprising the first recordings of Steve Reich’s two latest works—Jacob’s Ladder (2023) and Traveler’s Prayer (2020)—is due July 11 on Nonesuch. Jacob's Ladder, performed by the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Jaap van Zweden, and Synergy Vocals, was made during its October 2023 world premiere at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall. “Lovely and refreshing," says the New York Classical Review. "Superb." Traveler's Prayer, performed by Colin Currie Group and Synergy Vocals, was made at Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall in 2023. "The tone of its score, from first note to last, is sustained sublimity," says the Los Angeles Times. The two pieces were first released earlier this year digitally and as part of the 27-disc box set Steve Reich Collected Works.

Guitarist Jeff Parker and ETA IVtet—saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Jay Bellerose—stopped by NPR to perform a Tiny Desk Concert. "Music can transport you, even or especially when the destination's unknown," writes NPR's Lars Gotrich. "For 22 minutes, this is what Jeff Parker's Tiny Desk with the ETA IVtet can offer: a space for your mind to meditate on what the music speaks, set to a gossamer groove." You can watch it here.

Congratulations to winners of the 2025 JJA Jazz Awards Cécile McLorin Salvant for Female Vocalist of the Year, which she won last year, and, with pianist Sullivan Fortner, Duo of the Year; Ambrose Akinmusire for Trumpeter of the Year, which he won last year; and Mary Halvorson for Guitarist of the Year, which she won last year.

Mary Halvorson & Bill Frisell and Ringdown play Bang on a Can's Long Play Festival in Brooklyn; Kronos Quartet performs nearby at National Sawdust. Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson take The Old-Time Revue across the US Southeast, in Miami, Atlanta, and Birmingham. Cécile McLorin Salvant is at SFJAZZ. Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway join Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at Red Rocks in Colorado. Yasmin Williams performs for Mountain Stage.

The Philharmonie de Paris has announced its 2025/26 season, including concerts by Cécile McLorin Salvant, Chris Thile, Brad Mehldau & Christian McBride, and Laurie Anderson, and a performance of The Blue Hour.

Rhiannon Giddens’ inaugural music festival, Biscuits & Banjos, is in downtown Durham, NC, including a Yasmin Williams set and a live-streamed Carolina Chocolate Drops reunion. Ambrose Akinmusire leads a Village Vanguard residency in NYC. Kronos Quartet’s 10th annual hometown festival is at SFJAZZ. Mandy Patinkin is in Seattle. Cécile McLorin Salvant performs at the University of Maryland. Caroline Shaw & Gabriel Kahane are at 92NY. Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway conclude their month-long tour with Brooks & Dunn in St. Louis and Louisville.

"When you've had a six decade long career at the forefront of contemporary music, and your record label issues a 27-disc box set called Collected Works, you tend to want to look back a bit," says New Sounds host John Schaefer. "Steve Reich is the subject of such a box set." Reich is also Schaefer's guest for the full hour of the show, in which they do look back to hear and discuss some of those earlier works as well as two new works in the set, Jacob’s Ladder (2023) and Traveler’s Prayer (2020). You can hear the episode via WNYC here.

Ringdown's Danni Lee Parpan and Caroline Shaw, whose debut album together, Lady on the Bike, is out May 9, stopped by for the Nonesuch Selects video series, in which artists visit the Nonesuch office, pick some of their favorite albums from the music library, and share a few words on their choices. The duo chose recordings by Hurray for the Riff Raff, Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Vagabon, Mountain Man, k.d. lang, and Cécile McLorin Salvant, and Parpan recommends a few by an artist named Caroline Shaw.

Congratulations to Darcy James Argue, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Ambrose Akinmusire, Mary Halvorson, and Brad Mehldau on their JJA Jazz Association's 2025 JJA Jazz Awards nominations: Argue for Composer of the Year and Arranger of the Year, which he won last year, and, with Secret Society, Large Ensemble of the Year; Salvant for Female Vocalist of the Year, which she won last year, and, with pianist Sullivan Fortner Duo of the Year; Akinmusire for Trumpeter of the Year, which he won last year; Halvorson for Guitarist of the Year, which she won last year; and Mehldau for Pianist of the Year.